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But if it were true — and most of the world's scientists agree it is — Rohrabacher said he's hit on an answer by tackling the 80 to 90 percent of heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions "generated by nature itself": Namely, yank down old trees and get rid of the rotting wood in rainforests.

"Is there some thought being given to subsidizing the clearing of rainforests in order for some countries to eliminate that production of greenhouse gases?" the California Republican asked Todd Stern, the top U.S. climate diplomat and lead witness at the hearing. "Or would people be supportive of cutting down older trees in order to plant younger trees as a means to prevent this disaster from happening?"

Stern promised to deliver a technical expert from the State Department to get at the heart of Rohrabacher's questions. But he also tried to correct the record by pointing out that the focus of global warming policy actually centers on keeping the world's trees standing, especially in places like the Amazon, Congo and Indonesia.

He didn't bite on the merits of Rohrabacher's argument that trees cause global warming, which was reminiscent of Ronald Reagan's much-lampooned statement that trees cause pollution.

"I didn't want to be commenting on stuff I'm not expert on," Stern said afterward, adding: "If he wants to talk about the effect of rotting wood or whatever, we're happy to have someone come up who knows about it. I don't."

Jay Gulledge, a senior scientist at the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, said Rohrabacher is correct that 80 to 90 percent of gross greenhouse gas emissions do come from nature, with humans producing the rest. But it's that small percentage that is changing the Earth's climate — not to mention that trees help absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in huge quantities.

"How he's using it is totally off the wall," Gulledge said. "It's beyond the pale. It makes no sense."

Rohrabacher delivered several other curveballs at the hearing, which seemed preordained to draw controversy thanks to its title: "UN Climate Talks and Power Politics — It's Not About the Temperature."

The subcommittee chairman complained about the locales of the annual U.N. conferences, most notably the 2007 meeting in Bali, Indonesia, where representatives from many countries famously booed the Bush administration when it momentarily opposed a deal to launch another round of climate talks.

Rohrabacher said he's hit on an answer by tackling the 80 to 90 percent of heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions "generated by nature itself":

I bet "nature itself" creates 'greenhouse gas emissions' because it is the way the planet is supposed to work. These arrogant stupid scientists do not understand everything about our planet. They'd love to spend all of our money and ACCOMPLISH NOTHING.

It would be a great way to do more wealth REDISTRIBUTION from the USA to poorer countries. I guess it is not enough to just give away billions every year in foreign aid.

It takes added energy to result in warming. GHGs like CO2 and water vapor are not capable of creating energy or else we could bottle it and produce a perpetual energy producing machine. The greenhouse effect says you add an energy photon to a GHG to get greenhouse effect warming. Common sense says it is the added energy every morning that causes the warming, and the increase in the GHE. Common sense also says that it is the reduced energy every night that results in it getting colder, even though man spews out more CO2 every night. Same is true in winter. It gets colder even though man creates more CO2

In the real world there are many many more water molecules than energy photons. This is why the warming stops every day but we are left with oceans of water still unwarmed, but with all of the added energy photons already in use. If you now add more GHGs they go unwarmed because there is NO ADDED energy to warm them. This is why there is no such thing as GHE feedbck, and why we have an excess of GHGs. When the humidity double or triples when it rains, we do not see an increse, let alone a tripling of the temperature- because all the energy photons are in use and there are no more for the added excess water vapor and CO2 to absorb.

Any politician who cannot understand this basic common sense has no right governing the country. In fact he can probably be impeached for incompetency.

Darrel is so understated in this article that his sense of humor doesn't even show. Everyone that studies global warming knows that the CO2 absorption of old-growth trees cannot be replaced by planting a thousand seedlings and waiting 20 years. Old-growth trees are the lungs of the Earth. Rohrabacher is not just uneducated; he is deliberately provocative and pandering with the BIg Lie reversal of truth employed by propagandists for callous sociopathic campaigns.

But the political environment is so dangerous that a government scientist refrains from mocking the Congressman. And the journalist refrains from mocking the absurdity of the Rohrabacher Big Lie too.

This is a fact :: The world is heading for another ice age and man-caused global warming would not stop it. If there is any major human factor it is agriculture particularly livestock raising. All such activity did not prevent the little ice age 300 years ago. In fact, lets help put off the inevitable and enjoy the sunshine. I have to go out and burn my trash otside now.

Rohrabacher failed to give free money to his NRA buddies by siphoning off federal money to blast space rocks which also threatening his foil hat monopoly at Mall t-blogger rallies. So now he want to turn his old, white supporters into treeless bushwackers. Such evolution worked for monkeys in Africa. But, he will be fulfilling an Evil Inhofe prophesy of the t-GOP’s L. Ron Hubbard. “And for those who see impending disaster ... Dr. Crichton urges calm: "I suspect that people of 2100 will ... enjoy more wilderness than we have today. ...." ... compelling new scientific evidence ... Kyoto-like policies harm Americans, especially the poor and minorities” (“Climate Change Update”; Senate Floor Statement by U.S. Sen. James M. “Evil” Inhofe(R-Okla); inhofe.senate.gov/pressreleases/climateupdate.htm, January 4, 2005).

I've said it before and I'll say it again; global warming is another wealth distribution hocus-pocus scheme. Just as many scientists state it is a false theory as those who support it. EPIC DEMOLIB FAIL that no one outside of the cherry kook-aid (spelled kook on purpose) chugging commie community recognizes anymore as valid.

Isn't it about time we petitioned the justice system to issue criminal charges against those who lead us to this 25 year old false war against CO2 and it's resulting needless panic and death threats to billions of children? It wasn’t about pollution, it was about death threats and climate control with taxes. Meanwhile, climate change has come at the expense of 3rd world fresh water relief, starvation rescue and 3rd world education and population control for just over 25 years of climate crisis warnings and countless billions wasted that could have relieved so much poverty, suffering and injustice in our society. Call the courthouse for this was an Iraq War for science, journalism and progressivism. My parents told me not to waste because kids were starving in India. Now, it’s “Don’t waste or everyone on the planet will die.” SAVE THE PLANET was the grunt of mankind’s most embarrassing era next to sacrificing virgins. Who is with me? Thumbs up for justice and thumbs down for more of the same.